Louisiana politicians are turningLIESinto anti-abortionLAWS

Across the country, politicians are using lies about abortion to pass laws that make it more difficult or even impossible for women to access abortion care.

Louisiana legislators are no exception, using their time to enact restriction after restriction trying to prevent a woman from getting abortion care, even when that means lying to her, delaying her care, requiring unnecessary tests, making care more expensive, and shutting down reproductive health clinics.

Louisiana lawmakers continue to peddle lies, ignore science, and undermine the practice of medicine, all in an effort to push health care out of reach. A recent report by the Guttmacher Institute found that Louisiana is among the worst states when it comes to passing abortion restrictions that conflict with scientific evidence. Last year, Louisiana passed seven new restrictions on reproductive health care which are all being challenged in court. Since 2014, Louisiana has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending laws based on lies at a time when lawmakers are struggling to overcome a serious budget shortfall.

When abortion opponents turn lies into laws, doctors are forced to lie to their patients, trusted health care clinics are shut down, and women pay the price. In just the last five years, more than half of the clinics in Louisiana have closed their doors, leaving only three clinics available to the more than one million women of reproductive age in the state.

Lift Louisiana believes that Louisiana women deserve the truth and our doctors shouldn’t be forced to provide women with false information. Our mission is to lift up the voices of the people committed to protecting abortion access in Louisiana.

That’s why Lift Louisiana is joining with the National Partnership for Women & Families to launch a new campaign to show Louisiana politicians that when they lie, we’re going to be here to hold them accountable.

Get the Facts

Lie

Anti-abortion politicians lie about abortion safety to pass laws that restrict access and close down trusted health care clinics.

Fact

Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in the United States.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Osteopathic Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics all agree: “Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States.”

Abortion has a 99 percent safety record, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Lie

Anti-abortion politicians lie about women’s feelings and mental health after abortion. They even require doctors to repeat these lies to their patients by telling them that abortion care has negative mental health outcomes.

Fact

The “overwhelming majority” of women feel their abortion was the right decision for them.

The American Psychological Association issued a comprehensive report debunking the claim that abortion is linked to mental health problems.

The Guttmacher Institute summarized the medical evidence debunking this claim, stating, “Despite the overwhelming consensus in the legitimate scientific community that there is no causal link between abortion and mental health disorders, antiabortion activists have long gotten considerable traction in state legislatures and even the courts with their spurious scientific case.”

A large nationwide study found that over 95 percent of women who had an abortion felt it was the right decision, both immediately afterward and three years later.

2017 Issue Brief

Bad Medicine: How a Political Agenda is Undermining Women’s Health Care in Louisiana

Across the country, politicians are passing anti-abortion laws that mandate how health care providers must practice medicine, regardless of established medical standards, their professional medical judgment or the needs of their patients. Bad Medicine: How a Political Agenda is Undermining Women’s Health Care, a 2016 report by the National Partnership for Women & Families, documents this trend.

The report finds that a majority of states have one or more of these “bad medicine” laws. Louisiana is a key offender, with multiple abortion restrictions that bear no relationship to medical standards; undermine health care providers’ efforts to provide the highest quality, patient-centered care; and take decision-making away from women. These restrictions punish women – particularly women of color and low-income women – who face multiple disparities and structural barriers that increase their likelihood of experiencing the harm caused by obstacles to abortion care.

In June 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down two onerous Texas abortion restrictions in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. In that decision, the Court made clear that states are not allowed to make up facts in order to justify restrictions on abortion, unfortunately a common practice in many places. The opinion strengthened the current legal standard for the constitutionality of abortion restrictions by stating that abortion restrictions must have enough benefit to justify the burdens on access they impose, and that states cannot rely on junk science to justify burdens. This was a victory for science and abortion rights alike. Louisiana, however, has not taken any steps to remove from its books laws that disregard evidence and interfere in a woman's ability to obtain care.